STUDENT NAME
2/8/13
Quantitative Water Analysis of Muskingum River, Ohio
AP Environmental Science
Purpose:
In this lab we used Lab-Aids kits to determine if
the water we got from a river had various pollutants in
it.
Materials:
Empty bottle of water, filled with river or creek
water
Lab-Aids #19 A Qualitative Introduction to Water
Pollution Kit (see attached lab sheet)
Mr. Wagner's nitrate nitrogen test solution #1
Calibrated test tube
Plastic spatula
Chemplate
Pipette
Test tube cap
Procedure:
See attached lab sheet. To get my sample I went
to Putnam Landing, Zanesville, Ohio on 2/2/13 and
filled my bottle with river water from the Muskingum
River. On test 8- Nitrate nitrogen, instead of using
the Nitrate Test Solution #1, we used the solution Mr.
Wagner created that we think is the same as the Nitrate
Test Solution #1.
Data:
TEST NAME
Ammonia Nitrogen
COLOR OBSERVED
Light Yellow
(+) OR (-)
+
pH
Chlorine
Chromium
Copper
Cyanide
Iron
Nitrate Nitrogen
Phosphorous
Silica
Sulfide
Green
Same as creek
water
Same as creek
water
Same as creek
water
Same as creek
water
Same as creek
water
Cloudy pink
Very dark, navy
blue
Medium blue
Same as creek
water
pH- 8
+
+
+
-
Discussion:
The purpose of this lab was to test the sample of
river water for various pollutants using the Lab-Aid
kits.
The sample of water I took from the Muskingum
tested positive for Ammonia Nitrogen. Some sources of
this chemical are fertilizers, and human and animal
waste. The Muskingum River is in an area with a lot of
agriculture, so fertilizer run-off might have gotten
into the river. An excess of this can be toxic to
aquatic life.
The river water I sampled also tested positive for
Nitrate Nitrogen, turning a cloudy pink. Nitrogen can
get into the water from fertilizer run-off, sewage,
animal waste, and industrial and municipal waste water.
When there is an excess amount of nitrate nitrogen in
the water eutrophication can happen. This causes an
increased photosynthetic productivity and algae blooms.
When the algae dies the microorganisms that decompose
it use up all of the dissolved oxygen. Then there is
less dissolved oxygen that other aquatic animals need
to survive.
The Phosphorus test I did on the river water also
tested positive. This also comes from runoff from
fertilizers, manure and animal waste. Like nitrate
nitrogen, this chemical, in above-average
concentration, can cause eutrophication and lack of
dissolved oxygen.
The Muskingum River sample also tested positive for
silica. This chemical can get into rivers from
weathering of rocks and soil.
I researched and found that a river's pH is
normally 6.9. That means the Muskingum River is
slightly basic. River water can become more alkaline
by dissolving minerals like rocks and soil. That makes
sense because there was silica in the water and that
also comes from weathering rocks and soil.
One source of possible error would be that some of
the materials were washed with school water which put
other chemicals in the tests. Also I used an empty
bottle of water to get my sample. The bottled water had
chemicals like magnesium sulfate and potassium chloride
in it. I might not have completely cleaned out the
bottle when I got the sample and that could have
affected the test results.
One question that I was thinking was, Are there
poultry farms that I could not find on Google Earth in
the area where I got the sample? I was wondering this
because there was a lot of phosphorus in the water I
tested and that often comes from chicken waste.